In the Rain
by Reina-183
Summary: KuroFay. Infinity. Sometimes it's the silliest things that drive you over the edge.  Sometimes it's the simplest things that bring you back.


_Click clack_ went the rain against the metallic walls of the building Fay leant against.

_Click clack, click clack: _It was a cacophony of cluttered chords; each one scattering his thoughts as he sat silently, a grocery bag hanging limply from his right hand.

He closed his eyes._Ba-dump, ba-dump_ went his heart, in time with the rain.

Fay took a deep breath. He felt oddly calm, sitting under the freezing rain. The water washed over him. It soaked his hair until the strands stuck to his face. It seeped into his eye patch until he could feel it coagulating in the empty socket.

Sitting here, with his good eye closed, with the frigid cold covering him, he could almost pretend he was back in Celes, which ought to have been a terrifying thought in itself.

Sitting here, with his good eye closed, he could remember Ashura in his kindest days, where the most difficult thing Fay ever had to do was smile, and even that could have felt right.

He didn't know if he heard him, smelt him, or just _felt _him first, but Fay resigned himself to the fact that he should have known a certain person would look for him if he stayed out too long.

_Splish splash _went Kurogane's boots as he walked through the water.

Fay waited until the splashing stopped, and then he opened his one good eye. He knew he should smile, but he didn't seem to have it in him anymore, and besides, Kurogane was never fooled by the simple expression.

"You idiot," Kurogane's voice was controlled, but Fay could hear in it anger and worry. "You've been out here for three hours. You'll catch a cold."

The clicking and clacking of the rain stopped, and Fay gazed up at the large black umbrella now covering him. Without the rain he felt even colder, so he began to shiver.

"I thought," his voice was meant to sound teasing, but it came out as hoarse and dull, "that idiots didn't catch colds."

Kurogane's face twitched, though Fay couldn't tell if it were in a smile or a frown.

"Why didn't you come back?" As always, Kurogane had the tact of a rushing rhinoceros.

Fay gazed out, past the four unconscious bodies that littered the little alley to a green vegetable, lying all alone.

"The leeks are ruined. Why would I come back when the leeks are ruined?" The answer didn't make sense, even to him, but Kurogane just grunted.

It was obvious what happened, really. Three hours ago, Fay had decided to go to the grocery store to pick up some food for his companions. He had been met by a competing team that had decided to eliminate their opponents before the match. They had fought. Fay had won.

Kurogane was getting wet. His umbrella was covering Fay, so the water was dripping into his hair, collecting around the collar of his jacket, hiding in the crevices of his face that formed when he looked upon something intently, like he was looking upon Fay.

"Come on." The large, strong hand that wasn't gripping the black umbrella seized Fay's upper arm none too gently.

Before, Fay would have complained about Kurogane's roughness. Instead, he swallowed a lump in his throat. His eyes felt hot, even though the rest of him was freezing cold.

Then they were both under the umbrella and Fay could hear the _drip drop_ of Water plopping down on the protective covering.

They walked over the bodies like it was the most natural thing in the world. Kurogane stopped at the leek, and released Fay for long enough to pick it up and examine it.

"It's not ruined," he informed his shivering companion, before dropping the vegetable back in with the others.

It would have been easy to hate the man, Fay realized, if he hadn't been so perceptive. It would have been easy to cut the man out of his heart if he hadn't cared so much.

Kurogane had taken pain and weakness and created a strength that was completely self-attained. Every muscle, every movement spoke of painstaking training; he had turned nothing into everything.

Fay had been born with strength. So much strength that it hurt to think about it, but he had done nothing with it. He had allowed that strength to strangle him, until it turned into weakness.

Everyone thought he was so strong—except Kurogane. They thought, _he must have such a bad past but he still manages to smile._

It was dangerous to get close to others; it was horrifying to care. He wanted to pull himself away, keep himself safe, but he kept drawing closer.

_Closer to what? _He wondered, and he found that some small part of him wanted to discover that ever evasive answer.

_The pastries will be ruined_, he thought as he dropped the grocery bag.

It didn't really matter much though. This new Syaoran wasn't much a fan of sweet confections, and Sakura only ate because it pleased the rest of them. The four of them could probably sit down to a meal of ash and still act the same way.

_I want to die_, thought Fay as he wrapped his arms around Kurogane's neck and buried his face in his shoulder.

_But first…_

The tips of the big black umbrella went _clink, clink, clink_ as they hit the ground. The umbrella lolled on its side, water pouring into its center and rendering it useless. Kurogane wrapped his warm arms around Fay. It was rare, to be held like this, and precious, and Fay wished it didn't cause him so much pain.

_But first I want to be loved._

And now both of them were wet, victims of water falling from the gray skies onto the black, cement covered Earth.

Fay's eyes were hot, unbearably so, and his throat was lumpy and aching.

He knew that when they got back, both of them would attribute Fay's shaking to the cold and the extra splotches of wetness on Kurogane's black jacket to the rain, but for now Fay was just glad that someone had come out and saved the leeks. If they had stayed in the water any longer they would have been ruined.

_Plip plop_ went the rain as it fell upon their unguarded figures.


End file.
